Rock Your Trade Show

Have you ever wondered about creating your own personal advisory board but weren't sure how to go about it?  This is the episode that will give you all the tools you need to not only create your own personal board but also help you with getting on a Mastermind.  If you need a little extra help along your journey, finding a "friendtor" is the best way keep your momentum going and stay accountable.

Think about this quote from John Lee Dumas: "You are the average of the five people you send the most time with".  Do you feel inspired to be your best self when you spend time with friends and colleagues or do you feel like you are in a holding pattern, not challenged?

Creating a personal advisory board takes steps and to help describe it, think of a house, with a foundation, pillars, roof and peak in the roof.  When you build a house, there specific steps you take and here is a blueprint to help you.

Listen to this interview and hear a personal story about why joining an organization like the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) was the vehicle to creating a personal board.

Building Your Personal Advisory Board Blueprint

Foundation: Join, Volunteer & Engage

Join-Find an organization that has like-minded people and go to a meeting or event.

Volunteer-most organizations have volunteers to help run the organization, find one that offers areas that align with your career goals or help round out an area you don't do in your day job.

Engage-start reaching out to people on your volunteer committee and find ways that you can learn more about the organization and how you add value.

Pillars: Connections, Confidence, Invest in Yourself, Servant Leader

Connections: Once you are part of an organization, it becomes easier to meet people and start making meaningful relationships.  Look for individuals who might be slightly ahead of where you are in your current role.

Confidence: Being generous with your time and volunteering boosts confidence.  Members of the organization will take notice of you and appreciate your efforts.  When you feel valued, your self-worth starts to build and you are ready to take on new challenges.

Invest in Yourself-it is easy for us to put everyone else first.  If you truly want to fast track your progress, find a coach who will help you and add accountability to your goal setting so that you achieve results. Add a  mentoring program to your career plan to achieve your goals.  Attend programs and events to find the right organization to join.

Servant Leader: Remember to start by offering value first before thinking about what others do for you.  When you show gratitude, and appreciation for the team you are collaborating with whether at work or in a volunteer role, peers and senior leaders will take notice.

Roof: Personal Advisory Board

Board Selection: Strive to find people that are one step ahead of you.  Look for areas that you need advice, such as finance, goal setting, marketing, sales, leadership and find individuals that have those qualities.  Now that you are part of an organization, you can look for the right leaders to fill the places you need on your board.

Roof Peak: Mastermind

There are two types of masterminds-recurring groups and one time only occurrence.  Whichever you determine is best for you, it is a great way to get an outsider's perspective on your current challenge and offer out-of-the-box solutions.

If you move to the next level, consider joining a mastermind.  Some meet weekly, monthly quarterly or only once.  The format is usually fairly similar.  I had the opportunity to participate in a mastermind with Katie Krimitsos, the host of Biz Women Rock Podcast.  It was an incredible experience and an accelerated way to give and receive advice.

Mastermind One Time Format:

How A Mastermind works. A small group of people get together.  There is a facilitator for the group who keeps time for each segment: Situation, Questions, and Solutions.  One by one, each participant explains to the group what one thing they are working on and need help.  Next the group asks questions and then they offer suggestions.  A note taker writes all of the solutions and shares it with the person who is in the "hot seat".  Depending on the frequency of the mastermind the timing for the three segments vary from 4-6 minutes to 45 minutes to an hour.

If you are looking to have continued accountability and access to finding solutions, the best way is with a "friendtor". 

Friendtor- a person who is an accountability partner and cheers you on but also helps you stay on track.  This "friendtor" is someone you can informally go to for advice.  My friendtor, Susan Crawford and I at the same time every week and it has been an incredible experience professionally and provides great joy personally.

If you are looking to start your own advisory, and are stuck on any of these steps, reach out to me, I would love to hear from you! 

Check out Rock Your Trade Show for all podcast episodes.

Resources:

Check out our LinkedIn Group and share ideas and best practices.

Healthcare Businesswomen's Association

Biz Women Rock

John Lee Dumas EOFire

Chalene Johnson Courageous Confidence Club

Sound Editor

Special thanks to Christy Haussler and Team Podcast

This episode is a total WOW! Our guest is Alicia Tillman, Chief Marketing Officer of SAP Ariba. Her company delivers "the best-in-class cloud procurement solution, value for both buyers and suppliers on Ariba Network, and innovative new business models so you can grow your business." SAP Ariba is used by over 2 million companies and they transact over 1 trillion dollars in commerce each year.  If you are in marketing, procurement or trade show events you won't want to miss all of the information Alicia shares in this interview! 

Here are the big ideas Alicia shares in this episode:

6 Bold Moves For Your Marketing Strategy

1. Communicate Marketing as the Hub of Your Organization: There is no other area in a company that touches every functional area. "Every function should benefit from your brand's story, promise, value and differentiation." Through marketing brands well, an organization's pipeline, customer revenue and HR-employee retention all benefit.
2. Position Yourself and Marketing as Adding Value: Demonstrate to your stakeholders that you are an asset in planning and execution of strategic initiatives. When there is a period of change, marketing should position itself-at the core of the transformation by adding impact to every area in the company.
3. Seek Leadership Support and Respect. The CEO of the business needs to recognize marketing as a strategic asset and see it as important to achieving business goals.  In addition, the Marketing Leader when well respected  by leadership team has their opinion sought out and is asked to be a contributor when transformation is happening
4. Stakeholder Management is Critical. It is important to meet regularly with business partners to align on what they need, how marketing can support their efforts.  Spend time with stakeholders and share how marketing is contributing to both quantitative and qualitative results.  Meet regularly to stay on track with goals and objectives.
5. Find Marketing Influence: Look for individuals with credibility, influence and appreciation for marketing and seek out their support.
6. Be Confident in Your Decisions. "At the end of the day, you are the expert and the owner" of your destiny.  You need confidence to help solve opportunities and challenges.

Presenting to Senior Leadership: What you need to know

Be prepared, understand the challenge that the stakeholders face and remember reporting is critical.

1. Work to understand the requirements of the business. Find out the challenges that the stakeholder is up against-ask- "tell me your biggest challenge right now and let me figure out how marketing can support that" Alicia shared.
2. Find out the challenges. What are problems that the stakeholders are faced with and how can you help them?  Demonstrate that you have the solution for their challenges.
3. Be proactive about how to solve problems. Initiate conversations with stakeholders and let them know you are there to help solve their concerns.
4. Use face-to-face marketing to help establish a brand. Trade shows might be an opportunity or a private event to drive awareness to a brand or consider doing a PR campaign
5. Always know your details. "The most prepared and the most highly skilled team is always going to win the game, they are always going to win the championships" Alicia said. You will be challenged to get a seat at the table if you aren't prepared

Career Strategy: Increase Your Professional Value Consider changing industries-employers have changed their perspective on needing someone who has only expertise vertically in one industry.  If you are feeling stagnant or want to expand your career options, consider leveraging your experience and changing over to a different industry.

Merger and Acquisition Success Story  SAP Ariba came together and leveraged 20 years of history on the Ariba side with the power of SAP and created the "Power of AND".  Together they forged a new organization that leveraged the strength of both companies to create value for their customers. If you are in a merger now-consider an inclusive approach from both companies.

Diversity and Inclusion Is Important SAP has a tremendous focus on diversity and increasing number of female leaders.  Alicia shared how she is the executive sponsor and offers a program within their Ariba Live events to showcase successful women so that they can share their success and challenges to inspire others.  One way to help improve diversity, is showcasing women who are very successful and use their stories how they manage their careers.

SAP Ariba Events There are three Marquee events each year-recently held in Las Vegas for North America and Latin America, The European Region will be in June, and Asia Pacific in August.

These events provide content and a strategy-platform to bring new products and share how customers are partnering with SAP and Ariba.  The company invites prospective and existing customers to their event.  It is an opportunity to share how customers are using innovation.

They also host smaller scale, market type events to help customers and pure customer events to enable customers to share best practices with each other, network and talk about their challenges

Alicia's Favorite Resource Harvard Business Review

HBR covers a lot of marketing topics-evolution of social media, how to create customer loyalty programs. It is a go to resource that offers relevant articles that are timely.  "Marketers need to be relevant at a point in time" and understanding corporate social responsibility.  HBR offers a perspective on what CEOs are focusing on today. 

Find out more about SAP Ariba at www.ariba.com:

Alicia Tillman on LinkedIn

Alicia Tillman Twitter: @alliciatillman

LinkedIn SAP Ariba

Twitter @SAPAriba

If you liked what you heard, join our LinkedIn group and visit us at Rock Your Trade Show for insights and advice you can use in your day to day work.

Editing Credit:

A big thank you to Christy Haussler at Team Podcast!

Have you ever been curious what happens behind the scenes to execute a show?  Stacy McManus, Director, Corporate Alliances & Exhibition Operations at the American Thoracic Society shares an insider look in a recent interview of how the ATS  show prepares, collaborates with exhibitors and helps achieve success.  The ATS show has 200 exhibitors and 14,000 attendees and you can find out super charged tips that will help exhibitors and associations alike boost metrics and retention. 

5 Ways Associations Can Boost ROI for Exhibitors

• Offer Networking Environments on the Show Floor: Including networking areas inside the exhibit hall gives attendees and exhibitors the opportunity to exchange ideas and gets them to visit the show floor.
• Listen to Feedback from Exhibitors: ATS has an exhibitor meeting that includes all sizes of exhibits and categories who meet with leadership from the association to share feedback at the show.
• Use Innovative Technology: This year ATS is using Beacon technology which operates similar to RFID tracking where the attendee moves within the convention center and also eliminates scanning for CME programs offered at the show.
• Make Booth Selection Easier: ATS offers attendees a full budget overview from the space to material handling allowing exhibitors the ability to select a size that meets budget requirements.
• Offer Incentives To Increase Booth Space: Offering a special rate to upgrade by 10' helps exhibitors see how many more meaningful conversations they can have if they go from a 10 x 10 to a 10 x 20 for example.
• Create a Relaxation Area: ATS offers their team and attendees foot mesagers to help them recharge at the show.

It can "take a village" to execute a successful show and associations like exhibitors also look to for their own metrics and success of a show.  By listening closely to the exhibitor, offering new innovations and collaborating with exhibitors when they have a product launch or if they need to scale down when they have a product that may be going off patent, associations can also reach their goals.  For ATS, success is retaining exhibitors and they do it through offering value and a very positive results driven experience.

Want to learn more about the ATS show or have a question for Stacy?  Here is contact information for her:

www.thoracic.org

http://conference.thoracic.org

[email protected]

Stacy McManus 212-315-8699

Join Rock Your Trade Show!

You can also find Stacy in our LinkedIn Group-check it out!  If you have a question or a topic you would like to learn more about-reach out to me, I love hearing from you!

Resource: Exhibitor Magazine-a great place to find information that can help exhibitors and associations alike.

Editing: Special thanks to the amazing Christy Haussler at www.teampodcast.com

Have you ever felt frantic in the morning trying to leave for work?  It is easy to feel overwhelmed especially if you have a lot to orchestrate before you arrive at work.  In this latest episode find out how you can take control of your day, maximize your efficiency, improve communications with your team and even use a free virtual assistant to stay focused.  Want to save 20 minutes a day?  Check out these killer tips below:

Productivity and Time Management Tips 

Daily Habits:

1. Wake up early: It is easy to set the alarm for 4:30-or 5:00 AM but if you aren't going to bed earlier enough the desire to hit the snooze button overtakes the habit of getting up early. Instead try planning out your evening and getting to bed early enough so you can rise without fatigue.
2. Create a daily routine: If you do the same thing every day and it is predictable, the chances of you sticking with it increase significantly.  Looking at highly successful people they tend to do the same things early in the morning.
3. Resist looking at your mobile Device: After looking at several days of checking mobile devices vs. starting the day without the phone-20 minutes of time was gained by just this one tip.  Try it out for a week and see how much time you get back!

Time Management and Goal Setting Journals

30 Day Push Challenge and Smart Push Life Journal: The two websites have been combined and you can find all the tips at Smart Push Life Journal.  Discover the best tips on taking control of your goals using the SMART goal system and get organized in your day.

The Freedom Journal: This is the perfect journal to set a 100 day goal and achieve it. Each day helps you focus on key priorities.  Included are the day ahead and a look back at the day.  Goals are evaluated in 10 day sprints to stay on track with your objectives.

The Mastery Journal:  If you have trouble staying focused throughout the day, this is the perfect journal to help you learn how to set a goal and use blocks of time to help you achieve success.

To Do Lists and File Organization Apps

Evernote: Think of this as the ultimate virtual filing system where you can access folders virtually any time.

Awesome Note is a filing system that allows you to prioritize To Do Lists and also create files, send notes that you take and more.  Also available on Google Play.

Team Communication

Asana –Helps you track details with your team while working from your phone.  You can see the big picture of a project and progress.

Trello-From hiring to managing projects this platform works on desktop and your mobile device.

Event Planning Team tracking this is one you should definitely check out.

Apps for Event Planners

Planning Pod – If you feel like you have too many apps, emails and files in different places this is the app to help event planners with over 24 event management tools.

Blossom – If you want to track the progress of an event during all the stages this is a tool to try out.  It is for the supplier side and even allows client approval visibility during a project.

Budget Planning

Super Planner – Stay on track with every aspect of the event from food, capacity, budget, staffing and catering.

Travel

ScannerPro – Not only can you keep track of receipts and papers like hotel summaries but it also converts them into a PDF so you can send them right away.

Tripit- Create a master itinerary for every trip.

Lead Management Apps

Note-you need to purchase the lead kit if you go outside of the event show kit.

iCapture – This platform has made over 60 million lead captures and works on iPhone, iPad or Android device.  Use multiple devices, scan anywhere, and cut your scanner rental costs.

Zuant –This system allows you to capture leads when you are not online.  It syncs as soon as you go back online and includes data on performance like how many leads in an hour.  You can create customized questionnaires and don't need to download software.

On Spot Social – If you have field reps this works with an iPad and is really easy to use both online and offline. 

 Social Media Tools and Scheduling Apps

Canva–This is the easiest tool to create any size graphic from business cards to social profile, header for blog post or Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and more.  In seconds you can upload your image, create a custom size or use a standard size and post the image.

Flipogram – Easy way to create a video from photos, and include music, text and even a logo.  If you have wanted to try posting video this is the app for you.

Hootsuite – If you plan to promote your event on social media this is a great tool to schedule your posts.  In addition, it works really well to create lists of people to follow so when your event is live, you can tag the influencers on the list.   

Meet Edgar – If you want to schedule your content in an evergreen format this is the platform to use.  It takes time to set up but once you have it going, the scheduling happens automatically.

Corporate Event App

Spotme – Do your meetings and events have a large number of staff attending? Create your own show app that is specific to your company. 

 Event Registration

Boomset – This app uses QR scanning to check attendees in.  In addition, show and event organizers can print badges and wristbands with this technology.

Bizzabo – Manage contacts, emails, event website and networking online with this app.

Heytell –Stay in touch with your team in an instant message way by turning your phone into a walkie-talkie.  Faster than texting, this App helps you stay connected.

 Virtual Assistant

BRiN is a virtual coach designed to "help you achieve your dream of building a highly successful business." It is available for iOS and Android devices.

 Want this list?  Get the free download!  Join our LinkedIn Group to share best practices.

 More resources available at www.rockyourtradeshow.com

 Editing: Special thanks to Christy Haussler and Team Podcast!

 Sources for this episode

Bizzabo Blog

Forbes

Lead Liaison

Tara Lynn Foster is a leadership development speaker, consultant and coach. After twenty years as a marketing software consultant for clients including American Express and Royal Caribbean and as an executive with Bank of America, Tara turned in her badge. She shares the story of how she made a 3 day decision that was 5 years in the making.

After thinking through her options, Tara determined that she couldn't be the wife, mom and friend she wanted to be any longer in her current career role and knew that she needed to make a change.  Tara found her passion and purpose as a speaker and in this episode you will hear how to discover and communicate what makes you great. This is the interview for anyone who feels stuck, wants to communicate better and advance your career.  Here are the highlights from the interview and what you can implement today.

4 Ways You Can Discover and Communicate What Makes You Great

1. Leverage Your Core Values: It starts with finding out what is really important to you. Once you are clear on what is important it helps make all decisions easier.

Ask Yourself these three questions:

• Who am I? Once you know this you can ask for what you want and feel confident about it; stand your ground diplomatically-because you know what is important and make a career decision based on your values knowing what is right for you.
• What do I want? Having the answers to these questions you will have clarity-is the money more important right now or is time for my family more important.
• Why do I want it? When you identify the why it brings everything together.

Confidence resides with a solid foundation of understanding these three values. When you are on the treadmill of your career you can lose sight of your values and asking yourself the three questions really can help you stay on track. As an opportunity comes up or if you have a negotiation situation knowing the answer to these questions empowers you to make the right decision.

2. Connect With People More Effectively: People often struggle with making meaningful connections both personally and in business. After you have a foundation like knowing your values, and turning that into a personal brand statement you can move to the most important step-finding out what is important to the person you are talking with in a conversation. 

Ask yourself-how well do you know your audience, how do you want them to feel?

When you find out what the other person is looking for your response can be: "I understand how you feel, I have felt that way myself and I found that…" (fill in the blank). Just like you have your three questions answered for your values, you know need to know more about your audience or people you are meeting: Who they are, what they want and why they want it.

At trade shows-Sales Reps only have a few seconds to interact with an attending. Help them prepare by asking the reps to think ahead of what it is they want the attendee to feel, what they want the person to walk away with and what did they find about their interaction the rep and your company.

3. Have a Purpose and a Play Book: If you are going to a networking event or trade show, first decide why you are attending. Prepare in advance things you want to say that will resonate with the attendees at the event. This will help you be ready and not feel pressure to think on your feed.

How to prepare before a meeting, conference or presentation comes down to preparation.  It helps to know what kinds of things are they want to hear-this can be done by researching the event and then going to meet and greets before an event. By preparing in advance, you remove the pressure to think on your feet. Create either physical note cards or use an app like Awesome Note to have information about the audience before you go to the conference. Add to the cards right after the event to help with your follow up communication. 

4. Plan Networking Goals In Advance: Before you go, decide what you hope to gain from the event and set goals prior to attending. To make it easier to plan before you go and create a positive impression break it into three easy to remember words: Space, Sticker and Speech.

Own Your Space-even if you are nervous, physically your body will show – check out the book by Amy Cuddy Presence how you hold yourself changes chemicals in the brain. Take up as much space you can-think Wonder Woman for at least 2 minutes.

Have A Sticker-you can instantly change someone's opinion of you.  Tara shares how she has 13.1 on a bumper sticker on her mini-van. People have pre-disposed idea about you. In Tara's case, they have a different idea when she drives through an intersection see the mini van, and then see her sticker. What do you want people to know about you coming and going?

Know Your Speech-Your Personal Brand Statement- Do you want to talk about your position or your passion? Compare: I am a project manager vs. I make order out of chaos as a project manager at xyz company. 

Favorite Books:  Tara shared two books: Daring Greatly helps you take risk even if you are afraid.  The second book The Confidence Code helps you take bigger risks with each risk you area able to take.

If you want to ask Tara questions directly -join our Rock Your Trade Show LinkedIn group.  I love to hear from you!  Contact me if you have questions or I can help you in any way with your program.

Tara has a special cheat sheet she created just for you!  If you want to know how to get in and out of conversations at networking events get this free download! 

Website: www.taralynnfoster.com

Facebook:  http://www.Facebook.com/taralynnfosterllc

LinkedIn:  www.LinkedIn.com/in/taralfoster

Instagram: @taralynnfoster

Twitter:  @taralynnfoster

Editing Credits For The Podcast: Special Thanks to Christy Hausser and http://teampodcast.com

Check out www.rockyourtradeshow.com for all podcast episodes!

One of the top challenges women face in their careers is trying to figure out how to balance having a career and a family.  There are many different options, and it can be hard to know which path to take and when.  Corinne Renteria has had a career working for fortune 500 medical device companies in product management and global marketing roles.  After having her first son, she knew the travel schedule was no longer a fit and she needed to make a decision about her work-life balance and fortunately in her case she had great mentors who helped her find a solution.

 If you are wondering about work-life balance and how to create an "a-typical" career role this is the interview you won't want to miss! An added bonus is Corinne also shares some really helpful ideas about how to work at a company with multiple divisions and how marketing roles have evolved into a more independent remote model.   And if you want to find more like-minded people just like you…join the Rock Your Trade Show LinkedIn group.

 4 Real Solutions For Your Career and Work- Life Balance

1. Changing roles from corporate employee to contractor takes planning. If you are looking for a more flexible work option that doesn't involve travel, one possibility is to be a consultant.
   • Ask your current company if they work with consultants and would they be open to exploring this option
   • Evaluate how you want to charge by the hour or by the project. Do some homework on how other consultants charge and what their work week looks like.
   • One part of being a consultant is you have to be "on" all the time-you are being paid for your time and expertise.
2. Talk with your boss-and ask if there any options to modify your role with a flexible schedule. Some companies offer working remotely as an option which makes a difference if you are juggling school activities and hours in the office. 
3. Not all Job Share Options are Equal. Initially sharing a role may sound like a great option but depending on the level of the position, it can be hard to divide responsibilities. If you can create a 20-30 hour week option it may be easier than splitting a job with another colleague.
4. Make time for yourself. Even if it is carving out 10 minute time blocks, remember you are better to others when you have the chance to recharge.  For some this can be working out, for others it is meditating or taking a walk.  Find what works and stick to it.

In addition to sharing insights about work life balance, Corinne also gave power tips for people who work in large multi-division companies.  

Multi-Division Marketing Program Tips

• Understand your core value and the business value of each division. Each division is different from products to culture.  Have a clear idea of how your organization fits within the larger corporation.
• Know where your division falls in the hierarchy of the decision making process. Knowing how the top leaders of each division work together and who has the most influence over budgets.
• Be willing to negotiate and also to settle to achieve the common good. Finding solutions together is the best way to make progress and achieve success.
• Meet once a quarter if possible in person face-to-face. There is no substitute for creating strong bonds in person.

If you want to learn more about Corinne, you can find her on LinkedIn at Corinne Renteria.  And if you liked this episode please share it with a friend or colleague.

Editing Credits:

Special thanks to Christy Hausser at www.teampodcast.com 

Check out www.rockyourtradeshow.com for all the latest podcasts to help rock out your next show.

Have you ever wanted to have your event program stand out in your organization? For some marketers being seen as a strategic part of an organization isn't always easy. Finding the right person who can help you stand out and give you strategies to implement is sometimes all you need. This week's Rock Your Trade Show interview is with NeKeta Argrow and she shares tips that will help you increase your visibility within your organization.

NeKeta Argrow is an Event Marketing Architect who started in the technology industry handling their road show program at Microsoft and then made a pivot into the Healthcare Industry leading a team at a large medical device company. Her journey has had many key milestones including joining the HCEA Healthcare Convention & Exhibitor Association) board for three years. She leveraged that experience into becoming a speaker which has elevated her visibility as an industry expert.

8 Ways To Increase Your Visibility and Add Value To Your Trade Show Program

1. Look for internal opportunities.NeKeta described how she was working for Microsoft doing their road shows and discovered a larger opportunity to be responsible for their launch program. Staying connecting internally will help you find new options for you to explore.
2. Develop a rapport and network with stakeholders.One of the best ways to know what is important to the different areas that touch events is to meet with them regularly. Invite the marketing lead, or procurement director to coffee or lunch. Gaining insights into what is important to them will help you take things to a new level.
3. Align areas to work together.It is really beneficial to implement a meeting timeline that brings all of the departments together involved in a specific event. By taking the lead in joining together the key stakeholders, you will elevate your visibility and credibility within the organization.
4. Be patient, building trust can take time.Getting everyone on the same page and working together takes time. Set milestones for yourself that are attainable and work with realistic expectations on achieving results.
5. Increase visibility by getting involved in industry related associations.Sometimes you have to go outside your organization to increase your value internally. NeKeta started her experience by first going to an event, meeting the organizers and volunteering. Eventually she was asked to serve on the HCEA (Healthcare Convention & Exhibitor Association) board which spanned 3 years. Getting involved in a volunteer role is one of the best and fastest ways to be viewed as a leader.
6. Look for Speaking Opportunities. If you are like many people, the thought of speaking to an audience makes your heart beat faster and you can feel a cold sweat coming on. It is however, an important skill which will serve you well whether you are addressing an internal conference or a session at an outside event. Take it slow, you don't have to be the Keynote presenter at your first speaking opportunity. Start by joining a panel like NeKeta did to gain experience.
7. Find a Sponsor."Men find sponsors. Women seek mentors"- quote shared by Neketa from ExhibitorLive.  While mentors help you with advice, a sponsor is the person who is going to make all the effort you did in tips 1-7 pay off with new career opportunities. 
8. Your expertise can be transferred.Many skills are not industry specific and can be applied to new positions like Leading a Team, Managing Complex Programs, Creating ROI, are all areas that you can leverage in a new role.

Whether you are fulfilled in your career or looking for your next great move, we all can benefit from the ideas NeKeta shared in this interview. You can learn more about NeKeta Argrow at her www.eventmarketingarchitect.com and follow her on twitter @eventmguru.

I am excited that NeKeta has joined the Rock Your Trade Show LinkedIn group. You are invited to join the group and ask her questions about this episode or other ideas in the community!

Credits: Podcast Editor Team Podcast-Thank you Christy Haussler

5 Steps to Boosting Attendee Engagement and Interaction at Your Next Show

If you are a marketer and have been on the trade show floor, you know first-hand how it can be challenging to attract, engage and share your message with the right attendee.  In fact, the number one question asked about exhibiting is just that-"How do I get attendees to come into my booth and remember our message?"

5 Steps to Boost Engagement and Interaction at Your Next Show

1. Identify your Ideal Customer Avatars (ICA) (there will be more than one).
2. Determine what is most important to each ICA –you need a multi-tiered messaging strategy.
3. Create a Story –people remember information when it is told in a story format.
4. Include an unexpected experience-attendees retain information when they learned in an unusual way.
5. Have a Call to Action (CTA) that will allow you to continue your conversation after the show

At the ExhibitorLive show in Las Vegas, there was a lot of competition to reach the attendee.  The trade show floor was a noisy place with very engaging messaging and in that environment it can be hard to stand out.  So how do you stand out?  This is a case study that hopefully will give you ideas on what you can do to get better interactions with key customers at your next show.

Attendee Journey:

 This started with approaching the architecture of the exhibit.  When they came towards the booth, the structure looked like a museum gallery to fit our theme "The Art of Interaction".  Attendees were curious about the suspended orange balls they saw and were asked "What do you think that looks like?" Having an opening question makes attendees feel comfortable and it's the first step on your dance together.

Step One: Determine who is your ideal customer avatar?

Establish your ideal customer avatar and create a profile for each personality that might be coming to the exhibit.  There will be more than one and you may not be able to speak with all of them.

Step Two: Find out what is most important to them.

Determine what is most important to your "avatar" types.  Resist the temptation to have one overarching message and tailor your messaging to be specific for each personality you want to engage with at the booth.  Someone in purchasing has different concerns than a VP of Marketing for example.

Step Three: Create a memorable story.

Now that you have your multi-level messaging, it's time to create a story around it.  You can create several stories within an overarching theme so that each ideal customer avatar is receiving the information most important to them.

Step Four: Make the information delivery unexpected.

People forget fast-the best way for them to remember your message is to have an engagement where they are physically doing something to learn the information.  Ideally you will have a combination of materials and not only one thing-like a touch screen.  Finding a surprising material or method to experience the message will be remembered longer.

Step Five: You need a call to action.

What do you want to be the outcome after the show?  How would you like to stay connected with your ideal customer?  If you ask them to do something like sign up to receive a white paper for example, this continues your interaction beyond the last day of the show.

CAST STUDY: The Art of Interaction.

Exhibitus created a customer journey that started in the aisle with visually seeing architecture that looked like an art gallery. 

After attendees were asked about the mobile structure, they were invited to experience the art of targeting and engagement inside the booth.

There were four stations for engagement each allowing dialogue to understand what was the top challenges the attendee was faced with in their exhibit program.

Engagement Station 1: The Art of Targeting

A touch screen interactive that looks like a Seurat painting and the attendee was asked to find the three attendee targets. The experience highlights how not all visitors are people you want your staff to engage with at your show and why it is so important to find the right attendee.

Engagement Station 2: The Art of Communication

A gallery with three Picasso style paintings on the wall had conductive ink.  Projectors combined with computer programming created an unexpected interactive experience.

Engagement Station 3: The Art of Engagement

This was a fun area where attendees could take a "selfie" photo with a Magritte style painting.  If the attendee tweeted their own photo out with #Exhibitusartofinteraction their name was added an additional time into a drawing for an Alexa.

Engagement Station 4: The Art of Sharing

We believe the arts are very important to a child's development and partnered with the Dreaming Zebra foundation.  A donation of art kits is being made for homeless children in Atlanta and attendees signed their name.  Attendees also received a colored sticker to show they made a donation to this charity.

Call to Action: Take the Free Trade Show Program Assessment Survey

Attendees at the end of their journey received an adult coloring kit and a link to take a free assessment on their trade show program.  For every person who took the survey they received an additional name in the Alexa drawing.

Visit www.rockyourtradeshow.com/results to see photos of this experience.

If you would like to learn more about how to create an experience like this one, or have an idea for a future show send me a note, I would love to hear from you.

Leah Woomer attended ExhibitorLive in 2016 and was thrilled to discover that she found a place where there were so many event marketers just like her.  She shares how she is the only person in her company who manages over 60 trade shows and internal events and what it feels like to be in a silo.  Many event planners and trade show managers find themselves as the sole person in their role.  Find out how Leah manages her role and finds a way to stay balanced while traveling in this latest episode of Rock Your Trade Show podcast!

5 Insider Tips For Every Event and Trade Show Marketer

1. Career Development is key to advancement. If you are looking for a path forward, learning not only the tactics but best strategies will help you be seen as an expert.  It can make you better at what you do, from tactics to overall strategy, Leah highly recommends the CTSM program the Exhibitor Media group offers.
2. Why you need to network and know how to find "your people". Meeting others who are as passionate about the industry as you are "can feel magical".  It is an opportunity to create a personal advisory circle of like-minded people who can help you when you need advice.  Even if you are an introvert it becomes much easier to meet others when there is a solidarity and shared common interests.
3. Trade Shows and Events are at the hub of many companies success. Event planners and marketers interact with sales, marketing and financial in a company.  One of the biggest challenges working with multiple departments like finance, product development, sales and marketing is finding a way to help everyone achieve a common goal.   
4. Finding balance while on the road is important to staying grounded.  Leah includes yoga while she travels and she is a certified yoga.  Check out Yoga Glo the next time you are on the road.  It can provide mental balance, and relieve stress when you have been going non-stop from dawn until night.
5. Don't let the fear of failure stop you. So many women hesitate to raise a hand for a new opportunity and yet many event and trade show planners feel as though they "fell" into the role.  Take what you learned from that first experience of trying something new and build on it going forward.  Remember "no one died of failure" and while in the moment you may not see the learning, in the end you will come out ahead. 

Finding time to celebrate success can be hard when you do so many events.  Leah shares a very personal story of how she had a moment at their thought leadership conference and user conference.  She describes seeing all the things that were supposed to work together, interact seamlessly.  The team at the registration desk were welcoming attendees walking in; the Account Executives were greeting high value customers, executives on stage and she looked around and realized "I made all of this happen". 

Recognizing the impact it had for the company and see the tangible result of what you did is very rewarding.  Whether the impact you made includes changing graphics, putting up an exhibit, creating a successful sales forum, you can see a representation of the work you did.  Leah describes what it felt like and how it was an incredibly proud moment.

 Leah did say to a colleague "Can you believe it- they all showed up they are all here".   It is an incredible feeling and taking it all in is so important.  Enjoy those moments, you deserve it!

 If you want to find more like-minded people, please join our LinkedIn group.  I would be so honored if you would consider sharing this with a friend or colleague.

 If you want to learn more check out www.rockyourtradeshow.com

Editing Credit

Special thanks to Christy Hausser and www.teampodcast.com

One of the most common questions I hear from listeners is how do you express your personal brand. In this interview, Robyn Sayles  shares incredible insights that you can implement right away.  If you get stuck knowing what to say when people ask-"so tell me what you do" or how  to attract attendees to come into your exhibit or are unsure what you need to do at a networking event, then this episode is  for you!

Robyn is a personal branding expert and Fascinate certified trainer.  She shares key strategies we can all use to attract, connect and engage with people and why it is important to be authentically you at all the time.   

5 Key Insights You Will Learn:

1. Why it is important to know how you communicate-hint you should take the free fascination assessment test
2. How to differentiate from your colleagues with these 3 tips to be more effective on the trade show floor.
3. 3 Ways to engage with attendees to have better conversations.
4. How to express your personal brand in 9 seconds or less.
5. 4 Result driven strategies to help you make the best connections.

Robyn was inspired by Sally Hogshead who developed a scientific method called the Fascination Advantage to communicate personal branding in her book How the world sees you.   Robyn shares how Hogshead discovered why we become irrationally obsessed with certain brands and an algorithm was developed to accurately determine how each person communicates.

Robyn shares a personal story about how a friend took the fascination test and thought it was incorrect.  She describes how we have preconceived notions of what words represent like Power-and why it might be a barrier if we don't understand the true meaning.   

Once you understand your communication style, you can translate it to be more effective on the trade show floor.  Here are some ways you can draw people to want to talk with you.

How to Engage Attendees on the Trade Show Floor:

1. Differentiate your approach: Don't try to communicate the same way a colleague is doing it. Everyone needs to be distinctive and unique.  For example if you are the creative one-you should take a creative approach when people come to your booth.
2. We all sell-people are coming to the show to learn about new products at the show. Replace the word sell with the world help-communicate how you are helpful.
3. People walking the show floor want to learn something-don't be afraid to ask an engaging question

In a world where communication is lightning fast you really only have less than 9 seconds to tell someone what you do and so once you have someone to talk with you, your message has to be concise.

Your Personal Brand: Answer These 3 Things to Tell People What You Do

1. Who are you? Describe what it is you do-for example Robyn says "I help people be fascinating".
2. Describe how you add value: What makes the way you approach a situation, challenge and solution unique.
3. Demonstrate how you are different: Stay true to your personality if you are not wild and wacky, don't try to portray yourself as that personality. Being authentic is one way you can really stand out.

Power Tip: Practice your personal brand statement in your car or in front of a mirror.  The words need to flow effortlessly.

Remember that in order to be short and concise you need to keep it simple, focused and explain your advantage.  Look at examples of people who tell a story in a really short amount of time.  Movie trailers    and Twitter are good places to get inspired to know what you want to say.

Now that you know what to say, you need to know how to use it effectively.  Sometimes it isn't always easy to know where to where to start.  Here are 4 tactics you can implement at your next event.

4 Result Driven Networking Strategies to Use at Your Next Event:

1. Set a goal:  For example "I need to meet these type of people." 
2. Make the goal quantifiable: "I need to meet 5 people in this field today."
3. Determine your Ideal Customer Avatar: Who do you want to engage with at the event?
4. Ask for help: There are people at networking events who like to make connections.  This is what I do and I would love to talk with other people in the field.

Power Tip: Look for registration desk-ask them for help introducing you to people you want to meet.

Remember, that regardless of where you are-your personal brand should be consistent in all areas of your life.  The more your personal brand is the same everywhere you are-the more successful you will be.  If you are authentic, it will translate into making people want to hear what you have to say.

Feeling like you need some help?  Robyn shares her favorite book: What to do when it's your turn-it's always your turn by Seth Godin.  This book helps you get in touch with your why and take action.

If you want to find like-minded people join our LinkedIn Group.  And if you liked what you heard, please share this episode with a friend or colleague.